The Evolution of the Eating Utensil

Updated on August 7, 2015

Ever
wonder how the eating utensils you dine with came about? I mean, the cavemen surely did not have the
same tools to eat with that we do now.
How did they come about to look the way we have them today? Like anything else, our cutlery has a
history. But with that history is the
reflection of the history of the world in which it all developed.

by penwren on Flickr

The Spoon

One of the oldest utensils ever used by man is the
spoon. You thought that it would have
been the knife right? Well, the spoon
actually was the first as cavemen and their descendants would use various
shaped shells to scoop out their food and eat.
The hands worked for roasted meat but the spoon came about to get things
that the hands just could not hold.
Archeological evidence shows that the earliest spoons were made of
shells (sea shells and snail shells) and even pieces of wood that were slightly
curved.

The
most far reaching design of a spoon came from the Romans. They developed long handles with round and
oval ends to help hold the food better.
Due to the vast Roman Empire and the influence they had on cultures, the
new spoon designs took off. The first
ones though made of shell and wood continued for many centuries. Over the time the rich were able to have gold
and silver ones. But the development of
tin and pewter in cutlery brought the most advanced spoons into the hands of the
masses (literally!).

The Useful and Dangerous Knife

Next in history came the knife. Originally knives were developed for warfare
and as an overall cutting instrument.
Dining was not a major consideration in the design of knives. Over time knives began to be a regular part
of a person’s dining attire. Whether
male or female, you carried a small knife in a holster around your waist. Since you needed one with you anyway to
protect yourself from any enemies who decided to do away with you during the
fourth course, why not have it handy and use on your food and possibly your
dining companion. It was during the
Middle Ages that these small versatile knives were used to spear and cut the
food. Since forks were not common during
this period, the knife served the same purpose.
Over time, forks began to replace the dining needs of the knife. Yet, strangely the knife was always
present. In order to curtail bloody
table talk, King Louis XIV of France in the seventeenth century declared it illegal
to bring a sharp knife to the dining table.
Knives were still needed to some degree.
As a result of the need and the new law, the knives were filed down to a
bluntness and rounded off. Dinner became
a much more social and pleasant affair.

The Fork

Forks have become one of the most basic of our dining
instruments. They date back as far as
the Greeks, but originally were created with two tines as a spearing
utensil. Dining was not the intent of
the first fork creation. Cutting and
serving was the main purpose in which two tines worked wonderfully. By the seventh century it was common place at
the tables. Originally, like most
things, it was the rich who had them first.
They were very ornate. Yet Europe
was very slow to adopt this tool. Many
comments were made that God created hands and that was good enough for
them. But some OCD person figured out that
they could come in handy. Eventually,
small forks could be found to retrieve messy foods so that the hands could stay
relatively clean. As the years rolled
by, the forks were used more and more.
It was in the seventh century (when knives were ordered to be changed)
that forks with four tines were developed.
The inventors saw that when using the two tines, food could easily sleep
through it. The addition of two extra
tines kept the food on the fork.

Spork?

Designs change based on needs and eating utensils are not
exempt from it. How many times do we
tire of changing from one utensil to another?
Well back in the late 1800’s it seems that several people were
experiencing that very thing. The result
was what we know now as the spork. It
was a spoon with short tines in the end to spear small bites. This was great for stews and soups. In the early 1970’s, the spork that we are
most familiar with was developed by KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) for their famous
coleslaw.

Don't Forget the Chopsticks!

Most of these developments were in the Middle East and
Europe. They spilled over to the New
World, but the Far East was going down a much different path. Over five thousand years ago, cooks began to
break off small twigs to serve the food.
The functionality of it was noticed and the chopstick was born. As fuel concerns spread throughout China,
food was cut up with the knife so that cooking time was decreased. This led to the uselessness of knives at the
table. The chopsticks served the diner
very well. The Chinese developed them in
a more rectangular shape about ten inches long.
It wasn’t until the first century that it spilled over to the rest of
Asia which created chopsticks with a more pointed end to help spear food.

Food is an important part of everyday life and the growth of
cultures. So it is not surprising to see
the development of the utensils to eat the foods each culture consumed. As the
cultures changed so did the tools they used to eat. So, when you set down to eat your next meal
thank the Greeks, the Romans, the French, and the Chinese for helping to bring
to you the ability to enjoy the delights in front of you.

More by this Author

It is always interesting to study other cultures and it is extremely important to do just that if you are going to have interactions with them. You don’t want to insult someone or embarrass yourself and your own...

When you hear the word homesteading, you might imagine the original pioneers in the 1800's or earlier making their mark on the new land. Well, that is true. But we are in a new century and that term has taken on a...

Comments 5 comments

So true - utensils came about as we began to eat certain kinds of food. In ancient times long before the cave dwelllers we ate with our hands because fruits and wild berries and nuts and various greens and other fresh foods didn't need utensils to scoop them up - we just plucked them and ate them.

Interesting now, isn't it? - that we are told we must eat more of certain foods that actually require our hands like in ancient times e.g. fruits and nuts, etc.

One friend from a European country made fun of the table manners of Americans - he said we use spoons like shovels - to shovel food down our throats.

Thanks for this hub. I enjoyed it - lots of food for thought!

RedElf 7 years ago from Canada

Thanks for this hub - full of great info. It was a fun and informative read!

wrenfrost56 7 years ago from U.K.

Cool hub!

PamD 4 years ago

This was quite interesting. Hadn't given much thought to it before. I still can't understand (or use) chopstix. :-)

TolovajWordsmith 23 months ago from Ljubljana

This is very fascinating! I was especially surprised on simple, yet logic reason to start making blunt knives. Well, despite all the progress I think the majority still eats with hands:)